Packaging of ballpoint pen writing units



Oct. l0, 1967 AQ B. CARLSON 3,346,100 l PACKAGING OF BALLPOINT PEN WRITING UNITS Filed March 17, 1966 INVENTOR @M 5eme m/ BY :Dafa/@m M United StatesPatent O 3,346,100 PACKAGING F BALLPOINT PEN WRITING UNITS Arthur Bruce Carlson, Fort Madison, Iowa, assignor to Textron, Incorporated, Providence, R.I., a corporation of Rhode Island Filed Mar. 17, 1966, Ser. No. 535,059

9 Claims. (Cl. 206-46) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The specification of this application describes an improved packaging system for a ballpoint pen or refill of v the type containing an ink having volatile constituents. The tip or point of the pen is encapsulated with a plastic or other suitable coating material, with the complete pen being enveloped within a hermetically sealed container which is substantially impervious to the volatile ink components. Within the container the atmosphere is saturated with the vapors of these volatile components, such saturated atmosphere not only preventing harmful loss of volatile ink components but maintaining the tip in a moist, ready to write condition. In the illustrated embodiment, the tip encapsulating Icoating is shown as being joined or attached to the interior wall of the container to permit automatic removal thereof from the tip upon extraction of the ballpoint pen from the package.

This invention relates to the packaging of individual ballpoint pens and ballpoint writing units.

Within the last several years, ballpoint pens have come into wide usage because of several advantages inherent in this type of implement. Suchl pens can be carried conveniently with little danger of leakage even if subjected to abuse, rough handling or extreme variations of atmospheric pressure, as encountered in present-day air travel; they can be conditioned conveniently for writing; they are usable under practically any conditions; and the relillable type provide definite convenience featuresa refill being inserted quickly and safely as opposed tothe cumbersome land inconvenient operation of filling a standard fountain pen'from the usual bottle of writing fluid. Particularly for those individuals having to travel a great deal, to students and others who must do a substantial amo-unt of writing while moving from place to place, ballpoints have been found extremely useful, eliminating the inconvenience of having to carry a standard fountain pen as well as a separate bottle of writing fluid.

The usual ballpoint pen writing unit includes a Writing tip, an ink reservoir and a quantity of ink, the reservoir being formed of a material which is substantially inert to the ink. In icommercial practice, this reservoir material is generally a metal or a semi-resilient plastic such as vpolyethylene or polypropylene which will not (break readily even if subjected to inadvertent damage or abuse.

Very often, especially in the case of small retail dealers having a low stock turnover, ballpoint writing units (both refills and complete pens) are stored for extended periods of time before sale to and use by the customer. Since general adoption of the so-called' quick drying inks several years ago, any such extended storage of ballpoint writing units creates a very real and serious problem. The liquid vehicle used in the usual quick drying ink is volatile and will evaporate from an unprotected writing unit, such evaporation eventually causing the ink to thicken sufficiently to adversely affect operation of the writing unit. While it will be understood that differences in construction of various vunits will provide varying lengths of so-called shelf life, it has been found that "ice the usual Writing runit can be expected to remain satisfactorily operable for a relatively short period, such as two years.

The major problem in this connection is the loss of solvent through the minute ink-filled opening between the ball and the lip of the tip. It takes relatively little solvent loss to create a hard, coagulated mass of ink directly behind the ball in the capillary feed channels of the tip, with the result that it may be difficult if not impossible to initiate writing even if the ink Within the reservoir is still usable. This problem is particularly serious in the case of units having a plastic reservoir since even the most impermeable plastics suitable for use as a reservoi-r will permit gradual permeation of and loss of solvent therethrough.

The larger manufacturers of ballpoint pens annually spend many thousands of dollars replacing units that are returned by dealers and customers as being defective, when the problem actually is one of overlong storage rather than improper manufacture. While the cost of making such replacements is quite substantial, probably of more importance is the loss lof the good will and confidence of the dealer who is -dismayed to find that he has been selling inoperative units and the customer who is upset to find that a new pen will not write.

Prior attempts have been made to overcome this problem by dipping lthe tip of a finished ballpoint pen in a liquid plastic coating material which subsequently dries or hardens to form a cap which is removed by the customer prior to use of the pen. Such coating materials, however, have proven to be of little practical value as they are quite pervious to the usual ballpoint ink solvent and only slightly reduce evaporation.

It is therefore a principal object of this invention to package ballpoint pens and refill units in such manner as to prevent harmful evaporation -of writing fluid s-olvent therefrom.

It is a further object of the invention to provide for the packaging of ballpoint writing units so that the units are protected against harmful evaporation loss while still readily being removed from the package in condition for immediate use.

Further and additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE l shows a ballpoint pen writing unit having an encapsulating coating over the tip thereof.

FIG. 2 shows 4one preferred package containing the re- 'till unit of FIG. 1. Y

FIG. 3 shows the preferred package of FIG. 2, partially opened.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5 5 of FIG. 3. Y

Referring specifically to the drawings, numeral 10 represents a conventional ballpoint pen rell having the usual reservoir section 11 and writing tip 12, the tip being covered by an encapsulating coating material 13 for purposes to be explained in greater detail hereinafter. As will be understood, the encapsulating coating material 13 can be applied simply by dipping the tip 12 into a liquid vor molten thermoplastic material, withdrawing the tip and then permitting the thermoplastic material to solidify and form a substantially liquid tight seal over the tip. Several types of thermoplastic materials can be employed to encapsulate the tip such as, for example, liquefied butyrate thermoplastic resin, waxes, rubber compounds and other coating materials such as described in U.S. Patent No. 2,543,557.

As pointed out heretofore, the encapsulating coating material 13 wilil not, in itself, completely prevent evaporation of volatile constituents from the ink contained in the tip 12. However, when the refill is packaged in the manner now to be described, the encapsulating coating material 13 does form a significant and important element of the present invention.

After the tip 12 has been coated with the encapsulating coating lmaterial 13, the refill unit is enveloped in a container or package which is formed of or includes a material such as metal or glass, that is substantially impervious to the ink solvent. This package, for example, may be formed 4of two sheets of thin aluminum foil each of which is coated internally with a thin layer of a thermoplastic resin, such as polyvinylchloride or polyethylene (not specifically shown in the drawings because of its extreme thinness) to form the package walls 14 and 15. As will be understood by those experienced in the art, the package walls 14 and 15 are heated along the perimeter thereof as at 16, to fuse the thermoplastic coatings together to form an airtight pouch or envelope which completely encloses the refill unit. The exterior surfaces of the walls 14 and 15 can, of course, be imprinted with any desired indicia and the package can also be provided with a perforation 17 so that it can be hung on the usual peg-type display. The package can be produced in a gang or belt fashion with each individual pouch separated from the next by means of separators and the like. Obviously, the sheets forming the walls 14 and 15 need not be formed of aluminum foil carrying a thermoplastic coating, as other comparable packaging materials known in the art can be employed satisfactorily to produce the solvent impervious pouch. The only basic requirement is that the completed pouch or envelope form a substantially impermeable barrier -against loss of volatile constituents of the ink to the air externally of the package.

It will be appreciated that after the refill unit 10 has been sealed in the package, volatile constituents of the ink will penetrate through the tip opening and encapsulating coating 13 (and through the walls of the reservoir if formed of molded plastic) until the atmosphere within the package is substantially completely saturated with the gaseous ink solvent. After this saturation point has been reached there will, of course, be no further net loss of solvent from the ink contained within the reservoir or in the feed channels of the tip.

It has been found that the relatively small volume of ink solvent lost to the atmosphere within the package will not adversely affect the subsequent performance of the writing unit. However, if the manufacturer should desire to eliminate even this very small loss of solvent, the atmosphere within the package can be pre-saturated by carrying out the packaging operation in an atmosphere substantially saturated with the writing fluid solvent whereby the atmosphere within the completed package will accept little or no additional solvent from the ink within the reservoir. Also, it is contemplated that the manufacturer can insert into the package with the writing unit a small amount of free liquid ink solvent, whereby such solvent will evaporate and saturate the atmosphere within the package subsequent to sealing there'of.

Regardless of the manner in which the atmosphere within the package is saturated, it will be appreciated that this saturated atmosphere will prevent the crusting of a thin film of ink in the minute space between the ball and the lip of the tip, which crusting forms a barrier to any movement of ink (but not ink solvent vapor) from the reservoir of a ballpoint writing unit stored in the usual manner. Thus, in the present invention, should the tip 12 not be encapsulated by the coating material 13 previously described, ink may gradually seep through the tip opening, thereby creating an undesirably messy condition within the package. Because of the adhesive nature of the coating material 13 and its close fit to the writing tip, any physical movement or seepage of ink through the tip opening is positively prevented, except to the extent that the coating material 13 may eventually become slightly `stained by the ink. ju

In one embodiment, the present invention provides the features of automatic removal of the tip encapsulating coating material 13 as the refill unit is removed from the pouch or package in which it is stored. For example, in the preferred -form of package illustrated in the drawings, the tip encapsulating :coating material 13 is fused to the interior surfaces of the walls 14 and 15, as at 18 and 19. Such fusing is accomplished -readily by applying heat to the appropriate area of the exterior surfaces of the finished package, such heat being of sufficient temperature to cause fusing between the tip encapsulating material 13 and the thin coating of polyvinylchloride or other lining material forming the interior surface of the walls 14 and 15. Thus, when it is desired to use the refill unit, the pouch is torn open as shown in FIG. 3, and the refill unit is pulled therefrom. When this occurs, the tip of the refill is extracted from the encapsulating coating material 13 and is ready for use immediately. As will be understood, removal of the encapsulating coating material 13 at the time the refill unit is pulled from the pouch is accomplished inherently and automatically since the coating material 13 adheres to the ballpoint tip to a lesser degree than it adheres to walls 14 and 15 of the pouch. This is shown in FIG. 5 of the drawing.

As indicated above, the preferred embodiment of the present invention contemplates the unique combination of a ball pen writing unit containing an ink which is subject to evaporative loss of solvent, the unit being completely enveloped in an impervious container and having an encapsulating coating material over the tip, the encapsulating coating material being joined to the walls of the container whereby the refill unit is not only maintained in -a solvent saturated atmosphere during storage, but is automatically conditioned for use upon being extracted from the container.

In its broader aspects, the present invention relates to a ballpoint writing unit having an encapsulated tip and being sealed in a vapor impermeable package which may be other than the foil-plastic laminate described hereinabove. For example, rigid metal or glass materials may be used. Also, it will be understood that this invention is not limited to the usual refill unit, but may also be employed with completed pens such as the stick type implements which are generally sold as a throwaway, the reservoir being formed directly within the holder.

As a result of laboratory storage tests that have been Iconducted on writing units packaged according to the present invention, it has been found that the shelf-life is increased very substantially over the shelf-life of units packaged in the normal manner. For example, a unit which lmight become inoperative after about two years of storage in the usual package can be expected to provide a shelf-life of at least four or five years when packaged according to the present invention.

In the above description it will be understood, of course, that the volume within the sealed package should be relatively limited if the manufacturer neither preconditions the atmosphere therein with solvent nor inserts a small quantity of supplemental solvent. Obviously, if the atmospheric volume within the package is too great and supplemental solvent is not provided in some way, a sufficient quantity of solvent could still be lost from the ink to adversely affect the shelf-life of the unit. Thus, where supplemental solvent is not provided the total volume within the sealed package should be as small as practicable and preferably no more than about eight to ten times the volume displaced by the writing assembly itself.

Those modifications and equivalents which fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims are to lbe considered part of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with a ball point assembly having a tip and a reservoir containing an ink having volatile constituents, a disposable sealed container completely enveloping said assembly and dening a barrier which is substantially impervious to said volatile constituents and providing an atmosphere within said container substan* tially saturated with vapors of said volatile constituents, said atmosphere preventing harmful evaporation loss of volatile constituents from said ink and crusting of said ink within said tip, and a tip cover removably encapsulating said tip, said cover maintaining said ink against loss from said tip but being permeable by said vapors.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said container is glass.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said tip cover is thermoplastic.

4. The combination of claim 1 wherein said container is metal.

5. The combination of claim 1 wherein said container is defined by wall portions having a ilexible metallic outer surface and a continuous thermoplastic inner surface, said inner thermoplastic surfaces being bonded together at the periphery of said wall portions.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said tip cover is thermoplastic and is joined to the thermoplastic inner surfaces of said wall portions.

7. In a method for packaging a ballpoint pen writing assembly containing an ink having volatile constituents, the steps of encapsulating the tip of said assembly With a coating material, inserting the tip-encapsulated assem- 6 bly into a container which is substantially impervious to said volatile constituents hermetically sealing said container and joining the tip encapsulating material to the interior wall of said container.

8. The method of packaging a ballpoint pen writing assembly according to claim 7, including the step of introducing vapors of the solvent employed in said ink into said container before hermetically sealing said container.

9. The method of packaging a ballpoint pen writing assembly according to claim 7, including the step of introducing a quantity of liquid solvent of the type employed in said ink into said container before hermetically sealing the container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,416,596 2/ 1947 Rosenthal 15-5 63 2,542,206 2/1951 Nichols 99-189 2,682,070 6/ 1954 Lemoine 15-504 2,751,074 6/1956 Ringlen et `al 206-632 2,865,524 12/1958 Reznek 215-6 3,003,183 10/1961 Rosenthal 15-566 FOREIGN PATENTS 906,080 3/ 1954 Germany.

829,561 3/ 1960 Great Britain.

352,620 4/ 1961 Switzerland.

WILLIAM T. DIXsoN, 1R., Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A BALL POINT ASSEMBLY HAVING A TIP AND A RESERVOIR CONTAINING AN INK HAVING VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS, A DISPOSABLE SEALED CONTAINER COMPLETELY ENVELOPING SAID ASSEMBLY AND DEFINING A BARRIER WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY IMPERVIOUS TO SAID VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS AND PROVIDING AN ATMOSPHERE WITHIN SAID CONTAINER SUBSTANTIALLY SATURATED WITH VAPORS OF SAID VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS, SAID ATMOSPHERE PREVENTING HARMFUL EVAPORATION LOSS OF VOLATILE CONSTITUENTS FROM SAID INK AND CRUSTING OF SAID INK WITHIN SAID TIP, AND A TIP COVER REMOVABLY ENCAPSULATING SAID TIP, SAID COVER MAINTAINING SAID INK AGAINST LOSS FROM SAID TIP BUT BEING PERMEABLE BY SAID VAPORS. 